Introduction
Generation Z, born between 1995 and 2010, is often associated with traits defining a new era: digital natives, creative, empathetic, socially and environmentally conscious, adaptable, sensitive to injustices, and perceived as lacking long-term commitment or being overly sensitive to criticism or work demands. In Mexico, this generation comprises 33.4 million young individuals aged 15 to 29, with 16.8 million being males and 16.6 million females.
Labor Market Vulnerability
The labor and educational reality of most of these young individuals is marked by poverty, exclusion, informal jobs, and educational lag. According to a study by the Alliance of Young People with Dignified Work, based on official data from INEGI and the National Population Council, the fragile reality of this generation, also known as the ‘Crystal Generation,’ is revealed.
Labor Precariety
Currently, 15.4 million young people aged 15 to 29 are employed. Of these, at least 9.3 million earn insufficient income to surpass the poverty line, with their wages failing to cover two basic food baskets. They constitute 60% of working youth and 70% reporting their income.
Additionally, 9.4 million young workers lack access to healthcare and other social security benefits, working in informal jobs. They represent 61% of the youth labor force.
Furthermore, 7.4 million young people are excluded from work, with nearly three-quarters being women (5.4 million). Over 10 million have precarious jobs.
Three million young people are fully unemployed, seeking work or available for employment but not having sought it in the week preceding INEGI’s survey. Another 3.8 million young people, mostly women (91%), are excluded due to not being available for work, engaged in unpaid domestic care tasks. Additionally, 664,000 are jobless due to permanent incapacity or other reasons.
Only 3.4 million, less than a quarter, work in large or medium businesses and government (23%). Two-thirds work in micro, small enterprises or agricultural sectors (67%). Among those employed, 2.7 million work without a fixed location (street vending), and 3.3 million have an establishment.
Socioeconomically, 11 million young individuals aged 15 to 29 live in poverty due to insufficient income.
Educational Lag
The study highlights that Generation Z is most frequently identified with the student population. Although this is ideal, starting at age 15, there’s a growing trend of school abandonment.
Among those eligible for bachelor’s and higher education (16 to 21 years), half no longer attend school (49%). Over a quarter of young individuals aged 15 to 29 (27%)—8.2 million—experience educational lag.
Of those born in 1997, now 28, from every 100 girls and boys who started primary school in the 2003-04 cycle, 94 finished it. Then, 90 entered secondary school, but only 76 completed it. The decline is more pronounced upon completing high school, with only 53 out of 76 finishing. Of these, only 38 entered higher education, and just 27 graduated. Almost three-quarters lack advanced degrees. In this cohort, 47 out of 100 lack a completed high school diploma.
Of those born in 2001, now 24, from every 100 girls and boys who started primary school in 2007, 96 finished it, 93 entered secondary school, and 82 completed it. Only 58 finished high school, 49 entered higher education, and only 32 graduated. More than two-thirds lack completed higher education.
School abandonment disproportionately affects adolescents and young adults from lower-income households. While 91% of 15–17-year-olds from higher-income households remain in school, only 56% of lower-income households do. This represents a 35-percentage-point gap, widening to an abyss when university-aged youth (18–22) from lower-income households—only 17%—continue their studies.
The Alliance of Young People with Dignified Work, a network of organizations specializing in youth issues, advocates for viable and effective actions to reverse the structural barriers faced by millions of young people in Mexico.
